Tag: NASA
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Pic of the Day: Juno takes off for Jupiter on an Atlas V
Photo Credit: NASA Hey, at least the end of the Space Shuttle Era doesn’t mean the end of spectacular blast-offs. That’s an Atlas V rocket, lifting off from Cape Canaveral, Fla., this morning and carrying the unmanned spacecraft Juno — launching a five-year mission to Jupiter. Expect to hear a lot more about the Atlas V in…
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Branson, Allen, Bezos gear up for the private space race
Space Shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad last week. At the very end of his recent autobiography, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen briefly teases ahead to a future project — saying that he’s “just now considering a new initiative wit that magical contraption I never wearied of sketching as a boy: the rocket ship.” He adds,…
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End of the Space Shuttle era: Tracking the Atlantis launch
Weather permitting, NASA is less than an hour away from the scheduled launch of Atlantis, the final mission in the 30-year history of the Space Shuttle program. We’ve been following along with NASA’s live stream below, which includes some fascinating behind-the-scenes moments. Notes and links: Seattle’s Museum of Flight is opening early, at 8 a.m.,…
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Naveen Jain’s next big thing: Own a piece of the moon?
Naveen Jain Naveen Jain is looking to save planet Earth by reaching for the moon. The Seattle Internet entrepreneur emerged today as the co-founder of a new startup company called Moon Express, which is attempting to “blaze a trail to the moon and establish new avenues for commercial space activities beyond Earth orbit.” Jain previously…
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Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin, Boeing get NASA cash to build new spaceships
Boeing’s CST-100 Seattle may have lost a bid to house one of the retired Space Shuttles. But, who needs a clunky, old spacecraft, when you can actually play a part in building the next-generation space vehicle? Two companies with ties to Seattle, Boeing and Jeff Bezos-backed Blue Origin, have won tens of millions of dollars from…
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Where will all the shuttles land? Seattle’s Museum of Flight among top bidders
[Update, Tuesday morning: Bad news, space fans: Seattle loses bid for Space Shuttle] Tomorrow marks the 30 year anniversary of NASA’s first space shuttle launch, Columbia. But Celebration of Human Space Flight won’t be the only party on the block. NASA is using the date to announce the three lucky recipients of the retired orbiters,…
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NASA’s Senate Bill passes after dramatic debate and vote in Congress
Following a marathon day of debates and the extended wait for a recorded vote, the Senate Bill (S. 3729) has been passed by lawmakers by a ratio of 3 to 1. Modifying the heavily criticised path laid out by President Obama, Congress passed the bill which will allow for the ultimate transition towards commercial access…
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Congressional Compromise Nears: NASA’s Immediate Future Gains Clarity
NASA’s immediate future appears to be gaining some degree of clarity, at least as far as the House of Representatives and Senate are concerned. With the release of a compromise NASA Authorization bill for FY 2011 that aims to mend the differences between the original House and Senate versions of the Authorization Act, the United…
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Extra NASA funds: An initial step towards gap reduction options/extension
US lawmakers have agreed on a stimulus package that includes just over $1 billion in additional funds for NASA, to be utilized during 2009 and 2010. While the $400m allocated towards “Exploration” is not specifically earmarked for extension of the shuttle program, it could allow NASA to take the first steps in reducing “The Gap”…
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SpaceX and Orbital win huge CRS contract from NASA
SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation have been awarded the lucrative Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract, with SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp.) earning 12 missions, and Orbital winning another eight missions. The details of the award – worth up to 3.5 billion dollars – equates to Orbital winning 54 percent of the funding. PlanetSpace Inc lose out on the award.…